Sweetness and Like
by MagpieDreamer
Summary: -Beckette, I'm ten years old! Can you fix me or not? - The Atlantis team have a 'small' problem... ;)R&R folks!
1. Prologue

**Sweetness and Like**

**Prologue**

AN: An idea came to me randomly at about two AM this morning. I wrote it down. I'll continue it as and when I get time, but feed back would greatly help me do so. Enjoy and review, please!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A girl stood in the middle of the Atlantis corridor.

Eight years old, not much more. Eyes as dark as the shadows that clouded them, hair the colour of copper hanging in loose braids down her back. Fear played with curiosity on her softened, little-girl features, her hands plucking at the clothes she wore, drowning her slight frame within them.

The boy, a few years older, blinked at her in confusion. Grey-green eyes under a mop of black, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. The girl would have laughed, but she was confused and unsure and anyway, she didn't know this boy who stared at her so.

After a few seconds, the boy began patting at his clothes, examining his hands, his pockets. A radio buzzed in the eerie quiet, making them both jump. The girl brought her hands up automatically, cowering behind her elbows.

The boy quickly picked up the radio he had dropped, to check it for damage, then shook his head. The was insane. Completely… totally…

"Don't… don't be scared," the chirruping treble of a ten year old, higher than he remembered. He reached for the trembling girl, finding his arms shorter than he had calculated, "don't be scared, Teyla."

The voice buzzed on the radio again, "Major? Major Sheppard? This is Weir, report please."

The boy took a deep breath, and pressed the receive button on the radio, "… this is Sheppard…"


	2. Presenting the Symptoms

**Presenting the Symptoms**

AN: Did I here you say: _what the **hell**?! _Well, ladies and gentlemen, here's a chapter to explain how our beloved Sheppard ended up getting far closer to his inner child than he might have wanted to. This is basically the 'what happened' chapter, so bare with me here.... Oh, and, as always, feedback is my life blood, so _feed me_!

missmcweir: Thank you! Here's an update...

Quezacolt: Thanks! I'm keeping it up. And I can prove it, too. Just read on! (and keep reviewing). ;)

Harper's Pixie: Hey, it's a 'DROM fan! From Ex-Isle! Yay! Have some more, my Harperchondriac friend, and tell me what you think!

PurpleYin: Intriguing? Good. That was what I was going for. Hope you like this!

Jenny Ruest: This is an explanation of what happened earlier, and it isn't just Teyla and Sheppard that have been reduced to pre-teens... ;)

jj: Interesting, eh? Well, I hope it _stays_ interesting. Keep reviewing!

Happy: Are you still happy, Happy? Let me know!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well, I think we may have found out how the ancients lived so long," Doctor Beckette remarked, shining a light into the eyes of a ten year old John Sheppard.

The boy, dressed in a medical gown that swamped his under-developed form, swung his legs and blinked, "Beckette, I'm ten years old. Fix me!"

"And what about the others?" Elizabeth stood on the sidelines, looking perplexed. The fact that her flag ship team had been reduced to pre-pubescent children was not an encouraging one, especially considering that none save for Sheppard himself seemed to have any memory whatsoever of their adulthood.

"As far as I can tell, there's nothing wrong with them." Beckette shrugged.

"_Nothing wrong_?!" The astonished outrage on the child's face was comical to the point where Elizabeth was forced to bite her lip to stop herself laughing, "they're friggin' eight year olds! You're telling me there's _nothing wrong_?!"

"Alright, alright, calm down, wee man," Beckette shook his head, "look, that's exactly what they are. Fit, happy, healthy eight year olds. Well, Teyla and Rodney are about eight. Ford I'd place as some years younger. Five, maybe six. Though, he's been hiding under my medical table's for most of the time, so it's quite difficult to tell, really…"

"Yes, Carson, we understand: children; they are _all_ children," Elizabeth held up her hands, "now can you reverse whatever that thing did to them?"

Beckette gave a helpless shrug, "Doctor Weir, I'm only a medical doctor. I'm no' a scientist. I haven't got the slightest clue how that machine did what it did to them. All I can do is present you with the symptoms: Sheppard, Ford, McKay and Teyla all appear to have had reverted to their physical state, as it was, twenty years previously. And in all but the Major, they've also reverted to that mental state, too."

"So why not Sheppard?" Elizabeth demanded, "why is he the only who remembers that he's actually an adult?"

Sheppard scratched his head, "well," he piped up, "it kind of makes sense. I mean, if the Ancients used that thing as a kind of… fountain of youth, make themselves twenty years younger… what use would it be if their greatest scientists got a new lease of life, and got too young mentally to make use of it? I've got the ancient gene… maybe that's why I kept the memory. Maybe the machine only affected the others by accident."

"But that doesn't explain why Rodney has shut himself in one of my cabinets and is refusing to come out unless someone brings him Curly-bear," Beckette pointed out.

Sheppard shrugged, "hey, I'm ten years old. Give me a break."

Elizabeth sighed. "Okay, look, clearly, something has to be done. I'll get Simpson, Kavanagh and Zelenka to look at the machine, see if they can work out exactly how it works, whether it can be reversed, though… they'll have to be careful. The last thing we need are three eight year old scientists on our hands."

"Sounds like a plan," Sheppard continued to swing his legs, "tell 'em not to touch the blue dial-ey thing. That's what I touched right before everything went blank."

"The blue dial," Elizabeth repeated, "right. Okay."

"Uh… Doctor, I hate to be picky here," Beckette held up a hand, "but aren't we over-looking one wee bitty thing?"

"What?" Enquired Elizabeth.

Beckette pointed at the room to which this particular area in the medical bay was connected, via a two way mirror.

The eight year old Teyla could be seen sitting with her back to the farthest wall, sucking solemnly on a strand of braided hair, while a hyper-active five year old Ford raced round and round a table in the middle of the floor, an extremely flustered nurse hurrying distractedly after him. There was no sign of McKay.

"What, exactly, are we meant to do with SGA:1 junior through there?" Beckette asked.

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows as Ford shot right past the mirror, laughing hysterically as he flapped his arms. "No one happened to bring any crayons with them from Earth, did they?"


	3. Trauma's of the Young Athosian Mind

**Trauma's of the Young Athosian Mind**

AN: Third part! Yay!

missmcweir: Thanks! I might actually hall Jinto in in later chapters. Certainly, the Athosians are gonna have to get involved. And they ain't gonna be pleased that their leader/stroke ambassodor is now eight years old... ;)

angel: Thanks! I hope you find this chapter as good.

johnliz4ever: Thanks you! Here's another chapter, so enjoy!

Exploded Pen: Hey! (I love your name, by the way :D) Anyway, you're right. Beckett's name is spelt without the 'e'. It was a type-o that my computer didn't pick out, since (shock horror) it isn't programmed with the spellings of Stargate names lol, anyway, I've correct it, so thanks for pointing out the problem. Enjoy!

highonscifi: I'm glad you're enjoying this! Have another chapter...

Zen: Thanks! Your comments were very useful (and encouraging). I'm not good with little niggly spelling things like that, so if you spot any more in this chapter (and they'll be in here, believe me,) feel free to point them out! Also, I'm not very good on speach grammar either, but I think you're right. Anyway, enjoy!

Britt671: Thanks! Enjoy!

fenestrae: I think you may have been missing the point of my 'McKay with the curly-bear' thing, but I'm not sure I made it particularly obviouse, so I'll break it down. When Beckett says 'but that doesn't explain why McKay has shut himself in a cupboard and is refusing to come out until someone brings him curly-bear', he means 'but if it's the gene that's made Sheppard keep the memory, why does McKay still think he's an eight year old, since he has the gene too?' I dunno, maybe I was being too subtle for my own good. Anyway, that basically means that it might not necissarily be the gene that made Sheppard keep his memory. Hope it's clearer now, and enjoy the next chapter!

Bridget N: Thanks! I hope you enjoy this. You can see more of mini-McKay in this chapter, and the chapter after next (yes, folks, I have a plan! Mwahahahaha!) Anyway, read and reveiw!

sgafan33: Hey! Some of your points are vallid, and some I have my own very vallid counter-points for. Let's start from the top:  
1.Thank you! I really liked the prologue, which is why I put it up about two minutes after finishing writing it, without any real idea where it was going, which I normally don't do.  
2. Yes, I was aware of the spelling error with Beckett's name pretty much as soon as I'd put the second chapter up and re-read it. It was a type-o my spell-checker didn't pick up, and I didn't feel like re-uploading the whole document just to correct a relatively minor mistake. I'll just make sure it doens't happen again by re-programming my spell-checker.  
3. I haven't even started writing McKay yet. How do you know how I'm gonna play his character as an eigth year old? I mean, I might see your point if McKay had actually featured _at all_ in this chapter, but he's only mentioned, I think, twice. All that's said is that he's shut himself in a cupboard and is refusing to come out unless someone brings him his teddy-bear. That's not really any grounds to judge how I'm writing the character, that's just how other characters percieve his behaviour, and you said yourself that him shutting himself in a cupboard was a very McKay-ish thing to do, which was my logic behind mentioning this fact. And, no matter how childish the adult is, a scared child is going to act like a scared child. Little Rodney is confused and fearful. No matter how high his IQ, his first instinct will be fear, and that will over-ride any attempts to be more 'mature' about the situation. A high IQ does not instantly mean an adult-child.

Also, please don't tell me who I'm basing my story around. I've barely even started this, and it's meant to be an ensemble fic. That doesn't mean every chapter has to feature every character. Sheppard rememebrs he's an adult because I wanted someone to remain mentally adult, and he, as the leader of SGA:1 seemed like a natural choice. That doesn't mean it's gonna be his story. Please wait until this fic is up and running before you decide who it's centered around.

4. I knew someone would bring this up.... okay, Beckett is only making approximate guesses at the kid's ages. I didn't say McKay _was_ eight years old. Beckett said he was _approximately_ eight years old. And, since the kid's shut himself in a cupboard, that leaves a lot of room for error. Believe it or not, what you're suggesting, with McKay being between Teyla and John in age, is what I was planning to do all along. Also, did you know that Joe Flannigan (Sheppard) is fourty something? Ageing beautifully, huh? My point is, I'm just using my judgement as to how old the characters themsleves (not the actors who protray them) are. And I wanted the characters to be suffeciently young enough for them still to be kids if we knock twenty years off. This is fanfiction, not a show script. I don't have to be completely accurate about how old the characters appear. I'm just out to write something that is primarily for my own pleasure, and hope some other people get a laugh or two out of it as well.

5. Yeah, Ancients probably should have been capitalised.

Right, that's it, on with the next chapter!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Teyla watched silently as the little boy plunged past her, his eyes wide in an expression of giddy excitement. She felt the air whisper as it swept around him, saw how the lights danced in his eyes, and knew how everything must seem to him; so dizzy, so bright, so perfect and happy and full.

She wanted her father.

Any second now, that little boy would trip and fall right on his face. Little boys were silly like that. They could never seem to see danger as it stared them in the face. Teyla followed him silently, watching his feet as they slapped against the carpet. He'd taken his shoes off, at least. She leaned forward over her knees to inspect her own shoes. The sleeves of the odd shirt she was wearing fell well past her finger tips, and she instinctively attempting to roll them up, pushing her hair out of her eyes. Her boots felt like the time she had stepped into her fathers shoes, and stomped around their tent pretending to be a wraith, with her brothers, before the real wraith had taken them.

Experimentally, she wriggled her toes, then pulled them out of the boots altogether, and placed them carefully aside. She fingered a string bracelet around her ankle she could not remember putting on, and slid it off to get a better look.

The snivelling boy who had hidden himself could be heard whimpering just to her left. Slipping the anklet onto her wrist for later inspection, Teyla twisted round to get a look at the cupboard he had crawled into.

More snivelling, whimpering noises. Like some of the other children she had seen at home after wraith attacks, all curled up in their fear, so they forgot what it was to move.

Cautiously, she slipped her fingers beneath the door of the cabinet, and prized it open a crack, peering curiously into the dim interior.

A little boy drew back, eyes wide. She could make out little of him, apart from a pair of watery, fearful eyes and a running nose that dripped with mucus. His breathing was short and gasping, and his chest creaked oddly as he drew air in and out. Perhaps he had the coughing sickness, for that often caused such wheezing.

At any rate, his breathing was more snuffly and laboured than it should have been. He wiped his nose on his sleeve and continued to stare at her in silent terror, as if she were a little wraithspawn staring at him in his hiding-place, instead of a curious child.

But she had no interest in talking to him, only wishing to assess exactly who it was whimpering in the cabinet behind her, so Teyla carefully closed the cabinet again, and sat with her back to the door, wriggling her toes in silent contemplation.

With a shriek and thud, the little running boy tripped and fell flat.

He promptly began to ball, tears flowing in their easy uncountable numbers from wide, glistening eyes. So easy it was to bring his little world crashing down around him. So very easy. And just as easy to build it up again, block by wooden building block. Just a child… a child… a happy, innocent child.

Teyla thought she remembered a time when she had been like that.

Now her world was made of mud and mortar and stone, and the only person who entered was Father, bringing food and blankets and comfort and memories like nightmares that surfaced in her mind. No wraith would stomp on the smoking ruins of her imaginary empire now.

Though she missed her father.

The boy stopped crying, as the adult soothed and placed him on a table to inspect a none-existent graze on his knee, then patted him on the head, and he subsided, looking pitiful, to begin crawling around the table, playing-pretend that he was some kind of animal that 'woofed' as it explored it's new environment.

She wanted her father.


	4. Ambassadorial Duty

**Ambassadorial Duty**

AN: Wow! Two chapters in a row! Am I good, or am I good? :D

"We have to tell them _something_," Elizabeth stood looking at the door of the room SGA:1 had been shut in for their own safety, peering anxiously through the glass window set at eye level through the metal. "Look at them in there, they're terrified!"

John was jumping up and down in an attempt to get a better look. He hadput his old uniform back on, now several sizes too big for him, but warmer than the hospital gown. "Ford looks fine to me," he said, still hopping about.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him, "and Rodney has shut himself in a cabinet. That doesn't seem at all fine to_ me_. And stop jumping up and down, Major, you look ridiculous."

"You mean I didn't _already_?" The ten year old soldier demanded, "look, I can't help it if I'm small for my age; I don't like greens and I don't drink milk. I'll hit a growth spurt when I'm fourteen, so can I get a box to stand on or something? I wanna see!"

"You're right, Doctor," Beckett was standing at Elizabeth's elbow, "we can't just leave the poor wee bairns in there like that. They've no' a clue about what's happening to them. And I know Ford seems happy enough now, but sooner or later he's going tei' start asking for his mother, and when he does, take it from someone who spent two years in paediatrics, there'll be no consoling him."

"Alright," Elizabeth sighed, "what _can_ we tell them?"

"The truth?" Beckett suggested.

John rolled his eyes, "oh yeah, that's gonna work. Hey, kiddo, sorry to spring this on you, but about half an hour ago you were an adult, your parents are in another galaxy, and by the way, there's a hoard of blue life sucking monsters out to get us all. Have a lolly-pop!"

"John, that isn't helpful," Elizabeth reprimanded, "and no, I don't think telling them everything would be a good idea, but… how can you break it gently to a child that they're really an adult?"

"Might I suggest," Beckett said, "taking it one step at a time? How about getting Rodney out of that cupboard first, eh? Then getting Lieutenant Ford to sit still. Then… answering questions as they come."

"I like that better than the whole, 'blue, like sucking monsters' thing," John nodded.

"Perfect, you're our ambassador," Elizabeth smiled.

"What? _Me_?" John looked incredulous, "you want _me _to talk to them?! I'm useless with kids!"

"John," Elizabeth shook her head, laughing "you _are_ a kid."

"And they're far more likely to be receptive to someone closer to their own age than they are a lot of strange adults," Beckett pointed out.

John backed away, "look, the outside maybe a kid, but up here, trust me, I'm still an adult. I don't know how to _act _like a ten year old!"

"But Major," Elizabeth feigned surprise, "you do it so well on a day to day basis!"

John made a face, "yeah, yeah, laugh it up, doc. I'm sure this is all _very_ entertaining."

Elizabeth sighed, suddenly serious again. "John, as disturbingly sweet as you look right now, this could have some very serious long term repercussions. I_ need_ my flag ship team, and you are hardly going to be taken seriously in your current state. It could well be that their memories are still there but have simply been repressed, in which case, you are probably the best person to draw those memories out. Do you understand?"

John looked sulky, "yeah, sure, okay, I'll talk to them. But I'm not promising anything 'kay?"

"That's all I'm asking," Elizabeth desperately resisted the urge to ruffle his hair in affection.

"And, speaking of lolly-pops," Beckett produced two bars of chocolate, "I find sweeties are always a good incentive when tempting small children out of smaller spaces."

John pocketed the chocolate gratefully, "thanks, Carson."

"Welcome, wee man," Beckett grinned, "off you go, now."

John rolled his eyes, took a deep breath, and entered the room containing three small versions of the team he had once called 'friends'.


	5. Chocolate and Phist Fights

**Chocolate and fists fights**

AN: A while since an update, I know! I'm sorry! But this is a looooooooooong chapter, so I've made up for it. ;) Here we shall get a closer look at li'l Aiden and Rodney, and general chaos ensues. The plot will start after this chapter, I promise. Have fun!

Exploded Pen: Thank you! I also have a pen that likes to explode. Most irritating, yet somehow... fun. (excuse my random reply, but I'minstant messaging about five other people as I writing this...)

jyorraku: You're welcome!

Jen R: You pose an interesting idea (which I'd already kind of planned in, so you're in luck.)But like I said, i _do _have a plan, so if I want ideas, I'll ask for them, but thanks for suggesting!

angel: Ford gets more action in this chapter, anyway, so enjoy, and keep revewing!

Frog: Thank you! I don't mind you being a grammer Nazi. I'm one too, but I never see my own mistakes! Hope you enjoy this!

MandyK: Yay! A Scot! I'm fromScotlandmyself, (lower down than Aberdeen, though), so I like to think I can write the Scottish accent ;). Hope you enjoy this as much as you did the last chapter!

Jaws: Chomp on this, my fanged friend! ;)

Guardingingangels86: Ooooookay. I'm just reporting what I've already seen elsewhere. Anyways, did you actually enjoy the story, or did you just review to correct the matter?

prepare4trouble: Well, I'm glad you found this! Have fun reading!

sg1fan33: Ah, here we go. The problem with typing, my friend, is that you can't get across any tone of voice, and its easy for misunderstandings to occur. I didn't mean to come off sounding as wounded as I think I probably did when I answered your questions. Believe it or not, I actually like when people pick my stuff apart! I like being able to get my teethe into a review. Another thing I (and any other author on ) loves? Long reviews. For Gods sake, don't shorten them just because you feel you have to!Long reviews are fantastic! (But don't feel obliged to write an essay every time you review just because of what I've said!) I don't mind you picking up my grammer either, a lot of people do, and it is something I need to work on, but, just a a general pointer for reviewing any work on , if you mention one thing (like grammer) in one review, and then go on to review other chapters, don't mention it over and over again, because you can bet the author will already be very well aware of the fault already by then. Other than that, thanks for all your comments, and keep reading and reviewing and have fun! ;)

Highonscifi: Thank you! Sheppard does act a tad childish sometimes... ;D Anyway, enjoy this, and keep reviewing!

Johnliz4ever: Here's some more, which I hope you enjoy as much!

Bridget N: Thank you!

Kbandy: Thank you! Yes, imagine the possibilities.... -evil grin-. Hehe, of the fun! Hope you enjoy this!

Missmcweir: Thanks! Everybody seems to like that line... have fun reading!

PurpleYin: You'll get to see li'l Rodney in this, so don't worry. ;) Have fun!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sound of the door clicking open brought Teyla's head up in an instant. Instinctive fear welled up under her skin and she shuddered, struggling not to join the snivelling boy and dive into the cupboard she now had her back to. She was Teyla Emmagan, daughter of Tegaan. She was not afraid. She was _not_ afraid…

It was that boy. The boy who had stared at her so, back in the corridor. His clothes were far too big, and he was small and bendy looking, as if he had wire beneath his skin, instead of bones.

He closed the door behind him, and looked around him, doubtfully. He had greenish eyes and hair that needed combing. Teyla watched him warily, pondering how fast she could get the knife she had discovered in one of her pockets to his throat if he should do anything threatening.

But the boy did nothing threatening. Instead he stuffed his hands in the pocket's of his over sized clothes, and grinned at her. An odd grin. It twisted at the edges and made his nose wrinkle up. Teyla wondered what he was up to.

Slowly, easily, he shuffled over the carpet in shoes that were clearly too big for him, and sat down beside her.

She wriggled away, not liking how close he was to touching her.

The movement didn't seem to phase him. He shoved his sleeves up to his wrists, and then pushed his hair out of his eyes, to blink at her, "hey."

She had no response. Hay was a kind of grass. It was an odd thing to say. He was a very odd little boy. Everything was odd and out of sink today.

The boy tipped his head when she didn't say anything, "bet I can guess your name."

Teyla blinked back. Of course he could guess her name. He had already said it, when he had been staring at her in the corridor. Not only odd, but foolish. Boys were silly like that.

"You're Teyla Emmagan, daughter of Tegaan, right?" He asked.

Teyla raised her eyebrows at him.

John very nearly doubled over with laughter. It was exactly the same look she had given him when he had attempted to explain the point of junk food, a few weeks back.

"You wanna know how I know?" He pressed on. He wanted her to talk to him. Some kind, any kind, of response, from this solemn, silent little girl and they might be getting someone. He didn't fancy attempting to go for Ford. The kid was even younger, and still pretending to be a dog…

Teyla folded her arms over her knees and put her head down. John sighed, inwardly. "You wanna know who I am, Teyla?"

"No."

Well, there was a word, at least. Not a very helpful word, but still… progress, he supposed. "Why not?"

"I do not talk with strangers." Her voice was muffled, but the message was clear. Suddenly, John had an over-powering sense of deja-vu.

"Well then…" He shrugged, and nudged her with his elbow. She jerked away instantly, as if she'd been scalded, head coming up to glare at him. _Rule number one when dealing with small Athosians: strictly no contact…_ John made a mental note and continued, "we'll just have to get to know each other, wont we?"

"Do we have to?" She still looked rather resentful of his nudge, her eyes cold with something like distain. It was kinda irritating. That, and a sudden instinctive fear of cooties was starting to make John want to take several steps back. But he _needed_ to get the kids talking…

"Look, Teyla," he sighed, "I don't know if you've noticed, but this… uh… situation ain't exactly normal right now. You're… a little lost. In fact, we're all a little lost. We kinda have a mess on our hands. And in order to clean up that mess, and get you, and us…_ un_-lost, we're gonna have to help each other out. Now how can we do that if you're refusing to talk to us 'cause we're strangers?"

Teyla eyed him cautiously for a few seconds. He had a point. Which was annoying. She didn't like being out-reasoned. She prided herself on being the most logical child in her camp.

Taking rather non-plussed silence as a cue to continue, John put a hand on his chest, "I'm John Sheppard. I like football and Ferris wheels and things that go really, really fast."

She stared at him blankly for a few seconds, until he added, "your turn."

She turned away, "you already know my name."

"So?"

"You are a very odd little boy."

"We're suppose to be talking about you, here."

"I do not share secrets with strangers."

"Fan-dabby-dosy. Want some chocolate?"

"What is chocolate?" She turned back to him to stare at him with a puzzled frown.

"Ah, well, that's the question," John grinned and produced a bar, thanking his lucky stars that Teyla had obviously developed her thirst for knowledge of alien cultures early on in life.

He unwrapped the bar and broke off a piece, "you eat it, see?" and tossed the piece into his mouth, "you want some? It's good, promise. No poison." He broke off another piece and offered it to her.

For a few seconds, Teyla contemplated him warily. Her eyes narrowed slightly, then she reached out and cautiously took the chocolate from him. She turned it over in her fingers, sniffed it, looked at John to see if he had dropped dead from consuming the stuff, found that he hadn't, and nibbled off a corner experimentally.

Finding the taste a little odd, very sweet and strange, she nibbled off another corner, then finally placed the whole thing into her mouth and sat slowly sucking it, contemplating what she was swallowing.

John watched her, "any good?"

Teyla shrugged non-commitally. John grinned. "Want another bit?"

He steadily fed her half of the wrest of the chocolate, and found that Beckett had been right. She suddenly seemed a lot more pliable with sugar inside her. "What is this place?" She enquired, finishing a piece and holding out her hand for another.

John handed her the last bit of the first bar, "oh, so now you wanna know, huh?"  
She raised her eyebrows at him, again reminding him that this really was Teyla he was looking at, and that she clearly was no less to be trifled with than her adult self.

"Well, uh… it's…" he struggled to find a suitable answer for her.

He was saved by a squeal from Ford junior. "you got _chocolate_?!"

The boy flung himself down on his knees next to the older children and held out his hands expectantly, "gimmi, gimmi, gimmi! Come on, gimmi the chocolate! Come on! _Come on_! I'm hungry!"

"Alright, alright, slow down, kid," Sheppard held up his hands in defence, reaching into his pocket to retrieve the second chocolate bar, "here, have some of this."

"Yummy, yummy, yummy!" Ford proclaimed, "can I have some more? Can I? Can I? Huh huh huh?"

"No, you can eat that first," Sheppard told him, firmly.

"And I'm not a kid," Ford told him, swallowing the chocolate in one gulp, "I'm five. Five _whole _years. And… six months. That's a half. I'm five and a half. So I'm nearly six. Then I'll be _really_ old. I'm going to be in first grade next year."

"That's great, Ford, really great," Sheppard sighed.

"_Ford_?" Ford asked, "my name's not Ford. That's my second name, silly! My name's Aiden. Can I have some more chocolate now? Can I? Can I please?"

"One more piece," Sheppard told the five year old, "but that's it. Any more and you'll get… more hyper than you already are. You're one of those kids who gets jittery on sugar, I can tell."

"Awww," Ford looked crestfallen, "promise I wont get hyper. _Promise_…"

"One more," Sheppard handed him it, "that's it. Besides, we've still got old cowardly wheeze-lungs to get out of this cupboard. I can hear him breathing from here!"

"I have asthma!" A slightly muffled voice, sounding more than a little indignant, came from inside the cupboard, "you shouldn't call people names! It's not nice!"

"Do you have a name?" Sheppard goaded, "or would you prefer we just called you the cupboard-kid?"

"Go away!"

"'Fraid that's not gonna happen, cupboard-kid," Sheppard replied, jovially, "we're a little stuck. Now are you gonna come out? We have chocolate…"

There was a pause, then, "milk chocolate?"

"Yeah…"

"'Cause white chocolate gives me migraines and cavities and I'm not supposed to eat it and I don't like dark chocolate."

"It's milk chocolate," Sheppard confirmed, "and you can't get it if you stay in there."

There was another pause, then the cupboard opened a crack and a hand was stuck out, expectantly. "I'm not coming out."

"Look, McKay, just get out of the god damn cupboard, will ya?" The pint sized major demanded.

Aiden giggled, "you swore!"

"My name's not McKay!" McKay called, from inside the cupboard, "and I wanna go home! I need my inhaler. If I don't get it soon I'll turn blue and die!"

"Don't be such a drama queen," Sheppard rolled his eyes, "now come out and get the chocolate and we can all sit round and figure out how to get out of this mess, okay?"

"I am _not _a drama queen!" McKay sounded outraged, "I'm serious! I really need my inhaler! I'll die! Swear it!"

Ford proceeded to make things worse, "Drama queen!" He crowed, leaping up to bounce up and down, "drama queen! Drama queen!"

"Shut up!" McKay sounded close to tears, "shut up, _shut__ up_!"

Ford didn't shut up.

The cupboard burst open, sending Teyla shrieking across the room with a banged head, and McKay leaping over the floor to fling himself at the bouncing Ford. "I said, _shut up_!"

The unfortunate five year old found himself flat on his back with a rather heavy nine year old sitting on his chest, pummelling with chubby fists. Aiden shrieked and twisted and kicked with surprising strength. He was much smaller and lighter than McKay, but he was also quicker and more athletic. It took him surprisingly little effort to worm his way out of McKay's grasp, but McKay was enraged, and suffocating, and he continued to land blows on the younger child.

Sheppard bounded after then, "hey! Hey! Hey! Break it up!"

"He started it!" McKay yelled, as Sheppard took a good handful of the back of the mini-scientist's shirt.

"That's no excuse! Get off him!"

"Aaaaaargh!" Ford howled, though McKay was clearly hardly hurting the boy, "_Aaaaaargh_!"

"Get off!" Sheppard took McKay's collar in both hands and yanked hard, dragging Rodney off his victim. Ford instantly leapt to his feet and dived beneath the nearest table.

The door was flung open as Doctor Weir and Beckett, with several other medical staff tumbling in after them. Beckett scrambled to assist Sheppard with the thrashing Rodney, "What in heaven's name is going on in here?"

"A little late, aren'tcha?" Sheppard demanded.

"Well we didn't expect you to come to blows quite that quickly!" Beckett replied, looking down as Rodney's squirming slowed, "okay, okay, sonny-boy, let's take a breath here, shall we?"

But Rodney was having trouble taking so much of a gasp. His wheezing had increased two fold, his breath juddering and shallow, his eyes bulging.

"Aw, crap," Sheppard moaned, "he wasn't exaggerating."

"He's asthmatic?" Beckett froze.

"Well done, Doctor!" Sheppard rolled his eyes.

"Bloody hell!" Beckett groaned, "alright, come on lad, up ye get, let's get you some oxygen, come on now, come on, not time tei loose."

The wheezing nine year old was helped away, as Ford reappeared from beneath his table. "He's a psycho!"  
Sheppard punched his arm, "you started it."

"Awww, phooey!" Ford waved his hand, "I coulda taken him."

"You?" Sheppard demanded, "you're a titch!"

"I'm almost as tall as you!" Ford leapt up and down, grinning.

Sheppard gave him a shove, "hey! I'm vertically challenged! Leave it out, will ya?"

"You're a titch, you're a titch!" Ford sing-songed.

Sheppard rolled his eyes, "I'm starting to see you being beaten up a lot in kindergarten. Come on. You want some more chocolate?"

"Yeah!"

In the commotion and confusion, Elizabeth found that one small and quiet member of SGA:1 had been forgotten.

Teyla had relocated to the other side of the room to get out of the way of the scrap, and had taken up her old silent curled position, rubbing the back of her head where the cupboard door had clipped it. Elizabeth raised an eyebrows, then cautiously approached the Athosian child.

"Hey."

Teyla jumped and looked up, wide brown eyes staring at the woman. Elizabeth felt her heart melt. The child was adorable. It was disturbing, because the Teyla she knew was many things, but cute was definitely not one of them.

"Do you feel like coming out? Following the boys?" Elizabeth suggested.

Teyla shook her head.

Elizabeth dropped down beside the little girl, "me neither. My name's… Doctor Weir. But you can call me Elizabeth. Are you going to tell me your name?"

Teyla eyed her warily. She sort of liked the look of this woman, but… looks could be very deceiving. "Where did they go?"

"Well…" Elizabeth considered, "Rodney will be going to the medical bay, and I suppose John and Aiden will have followed."

Another pause. Teyla was examining her hands, picking dirt from beneath her nails. "Will they be coming back?"

"Maybe," Elizabeth shrugged, "why? Do you want to see them?"  
Teyla chewed on a finger nail, "where is my father?"

The Atlantis expedition leader stopped short. What in the world could she tell the child? She knew Teyla's family had all been killed off at various stages throughout the woman's childhood. Clearly her father had been taken when she was slightly older than this. But that didn't change the fact he was most definitely dead.

"You know, I'm not sure," Elizabeth lied, "he's not here. And I think… maybe we need to get you back to him. Get you home. And we're gonna need your help with that."

"Why?" The Athosian child asked, still chewing a finger nail.

Elizabeth wracked her brains in an attempt to come up with some way of offering a digestible summary of the situation to the girl, "because… because… you've been changed. And so have the boys. You've been changed in a way that's not… not_ bad_, exactly, but… difficult… and you've lost your memory. And we're hoping that we can get your memory back, so we can find a way to… _change_ you back. You see?"

"And then I can go home?" Teyla asked, hopefully.

"Then you can go home," Elizabeth agreed.

"Oh." Said Teyla, and she frowned, as if contemplating the situation in a very serious manner. She looked up suddenly, "do you have any more… chocolate?"

Elizabeth smiled, "no, but I know just where to get some. Come with me, and I'll show you."


End file.
